Campaign gift questioned; Sorry, wrong number; Let the polling begin

Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester) said he was helping a friend when, three years ago, he donated $6,000 from his campaign kitty to Cumberland County Freeholder Director Lou Magazzu’s bid for second vice president of the National Association of Counties.

Turns out it could cost him a bit more: The Auditor has learned the state’s watchdog agency is investigating whether the donation may have been illegal.
In a May 27 letter, Leonard Gicas, the Election Law Enforcement Commission’s director of review and investigation, told Cumberland County Republican Chairman Bob Greco that the donation was under review because “contributions to a leadership position (are) not included in the six permissible uses of campaign funds.” Greco had filed a number of complaints about Magazzu with the commission.

The maximum penalty for a first offense is $6,800, though the commission can reduce it if there are mitigating circumstances.

The fund, called Magazzu for NACo, took in $81,000 from candidates, engineering firms, labor unions and attorneys during Magazzu’s two runs for the position in 2007 and 2009.

Two others donated campaign money: Assembly Majority Leader Joseph Cryan (D-Union) ($500) and Sussex County Freeholder Glen Vetrano, a Republican ($250). Former governor Jon Corzine gave $5,000, but it came from his own wallet.

Sweeney, who made the contribution from his Gloucester County freeholder campaign, listed the donation on his reports to the commission. He said Magazzu told him it was legal.

“To me there was not even a second thought to go into it,” he said. “If it wasn’t allowed, then he has to refund my money. But we were helping a friend in a campaign. ”

Magazzu said his effort was to serve “all county governments in New Jersey … when county governments and regionalized services offer a promise to reduce property taxes. I am confident that ELEC’s review of this matter will confirm that reality.”

Magazzu lost both elections.

No longer at this number

Gov. Chris Christie has raised his profile in national political circles, gracing the cover of National Review and debuting on the Sunday morning political shows. But an errant phone call may have some in the governor’s office wondering if the White House forgot who’s running things in Jersey.

The Auditor has learned that White House Director of Broadcast Media Dag Vega called Christie’s office Friday looking for Josh Zeitz, body man to Corzine when he was governor. Vega was returning a call from Zeitz, who had requested information on Obama’s economic agenda to prep for Corzine’s appearance as a member of an economic roundtable on ABC’s “This Week.”

Zeitz left the governor’s office with Corzine in January, and became Corzine’s chief defender from Christie’s frequent broadsides.

“I didn’t know quite what to make of the call,” said Christie spokesman Michael Drewniak. “I simply reminded him that Governor Corzine and his aide can no longer be reached at this number, and that I did not have a forwarding phone number.”

A White House spokesperson confirmed that an outdated Rolodex led to the mis-dial but stressed the White House is well aware Christie is the guy in charge now.

Pollsters, start your questions!

Christie has made it clear he’s not running for president in 2012, but that doesn’t stop pollsters.

According to a poll released Thursday by the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling, Obama beat Christie, 47 percent to 31 percent, among registered voters asked whom they would vote for in 2012. Twenty-two percent were undecided.

Mike Huckabee, Sarah Palin, Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich all fared better than Christie, but also trailed Obama. Christie did better against Obama than one other Republican: Basil Marceaux, who lost last week’s Tennessee gubernatorial primary but became a viral video star from a TV appearance in which he said he wants to “stop traffic stops” and allow everyone to carry guns.

Although he’s Jersey’s star politician, Christie is still unknown by most of the American public. Sixty-six percent said they were not sure how they felt about him.

The week of living quietly

While Christie visited baseball stadiums with his sons last week, the gubernatorial duties fell to Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno – her longest stretch yet as the state’s top official.

But Guadagno was a silent pinch-hitter. She did not have one event or appearance on her public schedule, and the governor’s office declined to say what she did.

“We are passing on talking about the lieutenant governor’s week as acting governor,” said Christie deputy press secretary Sean Conner.